Helvécia

Helvécia is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary.

Helvécia
Flag Coat of arms
Helvécia Location of Helvécia Show map of Bács-Kiskun County Helvécia Helvécia (Hungary) Show map of Hungary Helvécia Helvécia (Europe) Show map of Europe
Coordinates: 46°50′N 19°37′E
Country	Hungary
County	Bács-Kiskun
District	Kecskemét
Area
• Total	56.47 km2 (21.80 sq mi)
Population  (2015)
• Total	4,522[1]
• Density	80.1/km2 (207/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	6034
Area code	76

History

Helvécia was founded in 1892 by Swiss-born teacher Heinrich Eduard Weber [de].^[2] After the great phylloxera epidemic that had destroyed much of the historical vineyard plantings in the 1870s, sandy soils of the Great Plains became much more valuable for grape cultivation than before.^{[citation needed]} Helvécia was settled by 501 vineyard workers, most of them from the Balaton wine country.^{[citation needed]} It gained independence of nearby Kecskemét in 1952.^[2]

Geography

It covers an area of 73.66 km² (28 sq mi) and has a population of 4,522 people (2015). Most of its inhabitants work in agriculture.^{[citation needed]} Approximately half of the population lives in hamlets. The rest is distributed between two centres approximately 3 km apart from each other: the older Helvécia-Ótelep, and the Szabó-Sándor-telep or Újtelep, originally a housing area for the former collective farm.^{[citation needed]}

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary

Helvécia is twinned with:^[3]

• Cârța, Romania
• Sirnach, Switzerland
• Vršac, Serbia
• Zatín, Slovakia

Accident

In 1973, a severe level crossing accident took place here with 37 people at least killed.^{[citation needed]}